Sony Santa Monica just dropped a massive bombshell to close out the June 2026 State of Play, and while God of War is officially returning, the Ghost of Sparta is sitting this one out.
Instead, the newly announced PS5 spinoff God of War: Laufey puts us in the shoes of Kratos’s supposedly deceased wife and Atreus’s mother, Faye (voiced and motion-captured by Daredevil’s Deborah Ann Woll). Backed by a hefty 20-minute gameplay showcase, the reveal gave us a deep dive into a game that feels undeniably like God of War, but with a completely fresh, agile twist.
The Story: Life After Death in the “Everywhen”
If you’re wondering how a game starring a dead character works without it just being a prequel, Santa Monica Studio has a wild answer: the afterlife of the gods.
The game seemingly picks up right after Faye’s funeral—the exact event that kicked off the 2018 reboot. Instead of fading into nothingness, Faye unexpectedly awakens in a transcendental, magical realm known as the Everywhen. She quickly realizes that the elaborate plans she left behind to protect Kratos and Atreus are on the verge of collapsing. To save her family, she has to fight her way back.
But the Everywhen isn’t just a Norse realm. It’s described as a land where ruthless deities from across multiple mythologies converge to vie for power. The gameplay footage showed Faye crossing paths with a red-skinned demon lord, a green-skinned goddess, and deities that appear to pull from Egyptian and Asian mythologies. For the first time, the franchise is blowing the doors wide open to a multiverse of pantheons all at once.
The Combat: Less Brick Wall, More Acrobatics
While the signature brutality of the series remains intact, the tone of the violence has noticeably shifted. Kratos fights like a brick wall—his combat is defined by raw, heavy, visceral gore. Faye’s combat, however, is a different breed of brutality.
The developers noted that they wanted Faye to feel like Kratos’s equal, but with her own distinct style. Her gameplay looks like a brilliant hybrid of the older Greek-era God of War games and the modern Norse titles.
- Lethal Speed: Faye is incredibly agile. We saw her launching enemies into the air, executing juggle-heavy combos, and flowing seamlessly between ground and aerial combat. PlayStation.Blog
- A Massive Blade: While Kratos favors the Leviathan Axe, Faye wields a massive, devastating sword that she uses with lethal grace. Kotaku
- Soul Manipulation: This is her wildest mechanic. Faye has the ability to literally separate an enemy’s soul from its physical body, allowing her to attack the soul directly or hurl it at other enemies on the battlefield.
It may not feature the same hyper-gory dismemberment Kratos is famous for, but the impacts are just as heavy, gritty, and satisfyingly brutal.
Weird Companions and What’s Next
True to the recent God of War formula, Faye won’t be traveling alone. The trailer introduced a few bizarre new companions that highlight the Everywhen’s strange magic, including a talking sword, a massive six-legged divine beast, and most surprisingly, a gelatinous cube named “Phranque.”
While the announcement has left the fanbase slightly divided—with some players upset that Kratos isn’t the star—the 20 minutes of footage proved that Faye is more than capable of carrying a game on her own shoulders.
God of War: Laufey currently has no firm release date, but with a gameplay demo this polished, an early 2027 launch on the PS5 seems highly likely.
